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This fourth revised edition s ets out to analyze and compare the operational mechanisms of the Chinese economy between the pre- and post-reform periods and through national, regional and local dimensions. It examines the driving forces - both endogenous and exogenous - that have influenced China´s economic development during the past decades. Both positive and negative consequences of the Chinese economic transformation have been clarified. A multiregional comparison of the Chinese economy is conducted in terms of natural and human resources, institutional evolution, as well as economic and social performances. This enlarged edition includes three new chapters on cultural diversity; natural and environmental resources; and, political and administrative systems. Many of the original chapters have also been significantly revised, expanded and updated according to more recent research.

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Rongxing Guo specializes in regional economics with an emphasis on cross-border issues and Chinese energy and environmental economics. He has 20 years of experience teaching and researching in China, as well as in Australia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany and the USA. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, USA, and at the Australian National University, Australia, amongst others. He has led research projects for the OECD and the World Bank, undertaken consultation for the Chinese government, and is currently Head of the Regional Economics Committee at the Regional Science Association of China, Peking University, China.

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